


A Favor

by Braincoins



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Also some of the physical kind, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Shiro gets some freaking rest, commission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 16:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17328533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Braincoins/pseuds/Braincoins
Summary: Shiro's hurt and doesn't want to get in a pod for some reason. Allura does him a favor by giving him a choice.





	A Favor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LittleWhiteTie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleWhiteTie/gifts).



> For littlewhitetie, for coming in 2nd in the Pillowfort Shallura Comm giveaway! :D I hope you like this!! ^_^  
> ============

            Shiro refused to get into the cryo-replenisher. “I’m fine.”

            “You’re bleeding!” Keith retorted.

            “I just need a bandage. And some rest. I don’t need a pod.”

            Allura let the rest of the team argue with him as she thought about things, then spoke up. “Shiro’s a grown man who can make his own decisions about his care.”

            Everyone turned to stare at her. Shiro just smiled gratefully.

            “However,” and she saw his smile start to fade, “Shiro is also known _not_ to rest when he needs to. So, here’s what I’m proposing: we’ll bandage Shiro up, and then I’m going to take him to my room and tuck him into bed and I will make _damn_ sure he _stays_ there and gets the necessary rest.”

            “Princess, that’s unnecessary,” he said.

            “It’s that or a pod,” she told him. “You’re injured, and we’re all concerned about you. You _do_ need to rest. And you can’t blame us for being worried about you doing so properly when your past behavior shows that you might not.”

            “Okay, okay. But why not _my_ room?”

            “First of all, there’s nowhere for me to sit in there and make sure you’re resting. Second of all, I have complete control over my room’s settings and functions, so I can more effectively make sure you get your rest. And third of all, because I say so.” She grinned and folded her arms.

            He shrugged. “Fine, fine.”

            “Coran, send a medbot to my rooms, then lay in a course for Olkarion. Hunk, bring some food and water from the kitchens, will you? The rest of you have post-battle duties, I believe?”

            And that was the end of that. The Princess Had Spoken.

            “I’m going to change into my paja-…” Shiro stumbled. Lance and Keith caught him.

            “Coran!” she said.

            “Bringing the medbot here instead,” he said before she could say anything else.

            Lance and Keith took Shiro to his seat. “Stop fussing,” he mumbled.

            “Adrenaline spike wore off,” Pidge said. “He’s really feeling it now.”

            “We’ll get him fixed up,” Allura promised. “And I’ll look after him.”

 

            “This really isn’t necessary,” he protested again.

            Allura had one of her arms around his waist and had draped one of his arms over her shoulders. “It’s this or I carry you.”

            He sighed. “Thanks for the choices,” he grumbled wryly. It wasn’t really much of a choice, any more than “rest up under my supervision or else get in a pod” was. But it _was_ still a choice. So he cleared his throat and added, “I… actually do mean that though.”

            She let go of him when they got to the edge of the bed, then turned down the covers for him. “You’re welcome,” she said, and he noticed she was smiling a little. “You should have a choice.”

            He sat down. “Even if it’s not much of one?”

            Her smile fell. “Get in and lay down.” It was an order, he supposed, but it sounded like a suggestion. He obeyed anyway, swinging his legs up and pulling the covers up to his chest as he laid down.

            The lights dimmed with a wave of Allura’s hand and she sat on the edge of the bed next to him. “The pod would have been quicker.”

            “I know.”

            “You probably would have been healed by now.”

            “I know, but…”

            “But I understand not wanting to go into one.”

            He blinked. “Y-you do?”

            She shrugged lightly. “I’m not sure why _you_ don’t want to go in, but I know I wouldn’t want to.” She picked at an imaginary loose thread on the blanket. “The last time I went into a pod, ten thousand deca-phoebs disappeared. My father died, my planet was destroyed. I lost everything.”

            He reached his hand over to lay on hers and was silent for a moment. There was nothing he could say that didn’t feel pointless. Finally, he just said, feeling stupid, “I can’t even imagine what that’s like. I’m sorry.”

            “I hope you never find out,” she said, raising her eyes to his and smiling tightly. “Is it too much for me to ask what your objection to the pod is? You’ve been in them a couple of times by now.”

            “That’s just it,” he said. “I know what it’s like. I mean, it’s not bad, I do feel better when I get out, that’s all fine. But when I first come to, there’s that moment just before the pod opens, just before my body’s fully alert again… I feel paralyzed. Trapped. And I flash back to being strapped to Haggar’s operating table and…” He took a deep breath. “It’s only for a second, maybe a tick.” He grinned at the old reminder of their different time systems, and was glad to see her do the same. “But it’s so _vivid_.” He shuddered. “If the only way to save me is to stick me in a pod, sure, absolutely. But if I have a choice? Never again.”

            “I’m so sorry that you had to go through that. I can’t help but feel responsible in some way…”

            “What? How?”

            “If we’d fought better… if we’d…” She sighed and looked down at their hands. “We should have stopped Zarkon ten thousand deca-phoebs ago. And then you would never have been captured, you would never have had to go through all of that…”

            “And I wouldn’t be here now,” he said quietly.

            She looked to him again. “This can’t be worth all you’ve suffered.”

            “Sometimes it is.” He cleared his throat. That was getting perilously close to truths he’d been keeping to himself for a long time now. _When you smile – and it’s a real, genuine, happy smile – sometimes it’s worth it._ “And, in any case, it’s not your fault. It’s not your father’s fault, either. You did what you could, he did what he thought was best. You can’t blame yourself for Zarkon’s and Haggar’s actions.”

            “I just wish… oh, I don’t know.” She sighed. “Is it really not terrible of me to be glad that you’re here, given everything you’ve gone through on the way?”

            “You’re glad we’re here?”

            She was the one to clear her throat this time. It was hard to tell in the low lights, but had her cheeks darkened? “Well, yes, we would have been lost without all the Paladins, but I… I meant you. Just you.” She ducked her gaze back down to his hand over hers. “Sometimes I feel like it’s all hopeless. Sometimes I feel nearly crushed by the weight of the task on our shoulders, but you help me bear it. You inspire me to keep going.” She raised her head again, cleared her throat again, squared her shoulders. Her voice was steadier as she said, “So we need you at your best.” Her cheeks still seemed darker to him.

            He felt a little warm himself. “I promise, Princess, you’ll always get nothing but my best.”

            “Allura, please,” she protested. “You’re always so proper.”

            “Should I not be?” His heart was beating faster. _Calm down._

She smiled. “It’s nice of you. Respectful. But we’re a team, Shiro. We look out for each other. You don’t always have to treat me like royalty.”

            “You are though.”

            “Am I?” she replied. “A princess of no people, a ruler with no subjects.”

            “You’re our leader.”

            “So are you.”

            There was little else to say about that. He just looked into her eyes and tried to steady his breathing.

            “This isn’t resting,” she said abruptly, starting to pull her hand away.

            He caught it and held it as tight as he dared. “Please don’t go.”

            “Afraid of the dark?” she teased.

            “It’s a little too weird to be in your bed without you.” He realized almost immediately how that sounded and panicked a little, feeling heat engulf his entire face. “I-I mean…! Not that…! I’m not… I just meant that…”

            She laughed. Her cheeks were _definitely_ darker than they had been. “I had no intentions of leaving anyway. I’m supposed to be making sure that you rest.”

            The words burst out of him. “Rest with me. The bed’s big enough, and you need the rest, too.”

            She studied him suspiciously, as if she could ferret out what he was up to with just her eyes.

            “I swear on Black that I’ll rest so long as you’re laying down next to me.”

            She eased down and smiled. “Very well.”

            He released her hand so she could stand and walk around to the other side of the bed. She laid down atop the covers and rolled onto her side to face him; he rolled over to face her. “Here. Now rest, Shiro. You’re safe.”

            “Safe,” he agreed. “Because my princess is here with me.”

            She tsked at him, but smiled. “Yes, your princess is here.”

            He closed his eyes, and sleep came quickly.

 

            She watched him fall asleep. Her brave, strong Paladin. Hers. _Mine._ Pledged to her service, always at her side. Even now.

            He had no reason to follow her. He was not Altean, not obligated by her blood. But follow her he had, without reservation. His voice came back to her mind. _“my princess”_ She smiled, feeling warm.

            She leaned in, brushed the white hair aside, and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “A princess’s favor for her paladin,” she whispered, before pulling away.

            She watched him sleep until her own eyes grew heavy. She could rest, and whatever awaited her when she awoke, she wouldn’t have to face it alone.


End file.
